UK Trade Secretary Announces Continuation of Some Steel Tariffs Despite WTO Violations
The U.K. is keeping holdover safeguards on five categories of steel products despite the tariffs violating Britain's World Trade Organization commitments, U.K. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a June 29 speech to the House of Commons. When the U.K. left the EU, it kept its safeguards covering 19 categories of steel. Throughout 2021, the Trade Remedies Authority reviewed the measures, recommending the government remove safeguards on nine of those categories. In June 2021, the U.K. said it would extend the safeguards on 10 product categories for three years and remove them on four of the remaining nine, extending the safeguards for one year on the other five. The TRA then carried out additional analysis, leading to Trevelyan calling for the continuation of the tariffs on the five steel categories for another two years, until June 30, 2024.
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"The Government wishes to make it clear to Parliament that the decision to extend the safeguard on the five product categories departs from our international legal obligations under the relevant WTO agreement, as relates to the five product categories," Trevelyan said. "However, from time to time, issues may arise where the national interest requires action to be taken which may be in tension with normal rules or procedures." Trevelyan also announced the U.K. will suspend the safeguards on steel from Ukraine for the next two years.